New York S 4171: Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide; and to repeal certain provisions of the education law relating thereto

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
S04171 Summary:

BILL NOS04171 

&nbsp

SAME ASNo Same As

&nbsp

SPONSORPARKER

&nbsp

COSPNSR

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Rpld Title II Arts 33, 35, 37, 39, 51, 52 & 53, Ed L

&nbsp

Directs the commissioner of education for the state of New York to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one school district per county.

Go to top S04171 Actions:

BILL NOS04171 

&nbsp

02/03/2025REFERRED TO EDUCATION

01/07/2026REFERRED TO EDUCATION

Go to topS04171 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04171 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04171 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4171

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 3, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Education

 AN ACT directing the commissioner of education for the state of New York
 to revamp the structure of school districts statewide creating one
 school district per county; and to repeal certain provisions of the
 education law relating thereto

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. The legislature
 2 hereby finds and declares that New York state spends more money per
 3 student than any other state in the nation, but ranks thirty-ninth in
 4 high school graduation rates. Only seventy-three percent of New York's
 5 students graduate from high school and only thirty-seven percent are
 6 college ready. The legislature finds that New York students are not
 7 adequately prepared to compete in the global economy and that changes
 8 must be made to the education system in order to reverse these statis-
 9 tics and prepare students to compete in the global economy. The legisla-
 10 ture also finds and declares that New York has struggled for several
 11 decades with the ongoing process of reorganizing our school district
 12 system in a way that provides a solution to the negative effects of
 13 declining school enrollment, broadens the scope of program offerings,
 14 facilitates optimum class scheduling, increases professional resources,
 15 and alleviates heavy tax burdens. The legislature therefore directs the
 16 commissioner of education to reorganize the school districts in a manner
 17 that adequately addresses the shortcomings of the current education
 18 system and prepares each and every student to excel in today's global
 19 economy.
 20 § 2. The commissioner of the New York state department of education
 21 shall establish and implement a new school district system statewide
 22 consisting of one school district per county in each of the state's
 23 sixty-two counties. The resulting sixty-two school districts shall

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07755-01-5

 S. 4171 2

 1 service only the needs of students residing in such county. Provided,
 2 however, that any school district located in a city with a population of
 3 one million or more shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.
 4 § 3. Within one year of the effective date of this act the commission-
 5 er of the New York state department of education shall submit a report
 6 proposing implementing legislation to effect and fund the consolidation
 7 of school districts as proposed in this act. Such report shall be
 8 provided to the governor, the speaker of the assembly, the temporary
 9 president of the senate, the assembly minority leader, the senate minor-
 10 ity leader and the chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and
 11 assembly committees on education.
 12 § 4. Article 33 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 13 § 5. Article 35 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 14 § 6. Article 37 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 15 § 7. Article 39 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 16 § 8. Article 51 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 17 § 9. Article 52 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 18 § 10. Article 53 of title II of the education law is REPEALED.
 19 § 11. This act shall take effect on the three hundred sixty-fifth day
 20 after it shall